Short-term telemonitoring program after hospital discharge for COPD exacerbation: Greek pilot of the renewing health multicenter randomized trial

Introduction: Home telemonitoring for COPD patients has been assessed for reduction of COPD exacerbations and improvement ofhealth-related outcomesbut still has not been established. Aims and objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term telemonitoring program in reduction of hospital readmissions and Quality of Life (QoL) improvement compared to usual care. Methods: 155 patients (male:141,age:72.9±9.3 years) discharged from hospital after COPD exacerbation were randomized in intervention (I) or control (C) group [(I)/(C):85/70]. Patients in group (I) were followed at home by telespirometry/teleoxymetry, while group (C) visited outpatient department, at 4 and 12 weeks. QoL was assessed by SF36v2 and St. George9s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). Results: The trial completed 115 patients [(I)/(C):83/32]. Total number of readmissions was 0.30±0.56 in group (I) versus 0.08±0.37 in group (C) [p=0.015]. There was significant improvement of QoL (SF36v2) at the end of trial only in (C) [p=0.034]. However, there was no difference of QoL (SF36v2 and SGRQ) between groups at month 3. Hospital Anxiety u0026 Depression Scale (HADS) was significantly improved in (C) group [p=0.002] and the difference between groups was statistically significant [p=0.02]. FEV1 was improved in both groups, with a significant difference between them [(I):108.95ml-(C):196.38ml,p=0.005]. Total cost of treatment per patient was 551.92€ for group (I) versus 59€ for group (C). Conclusions: In the present study home telemonitoring does not affect QoL and it appears not to reduce readmissions, however it is difficult to conclude due to high drop-out rate in control group.